Passion, dedication and drive have propelled Marstons Mills native Robert Maffei from a teen with a lawn-mowing service to the owner of a multi-million-dollar landscape contracting business in less than two decades. Recently ranked by Landscape Management magazine as among the top 100 landscape companies in the United States, Maffei Landscape Contractors today employs about 100 people who are based in its four-acre, flower-splashed Mashpee headquarters. Maffei credits his success in part to the early influences of his parents, teachers and sports coaches, but as a youth he displayed initiative, an aptitude for business and the ability to apply lessons learned to his goals.

Growing up, Maffei was exposed to his father's construction company and enjoyed playing around some of big equipment used by the workers, which he believes gave him an edge.

"As a young kid, what's better than playing with a bulldozer," he said. "I learned skills that most young guys don't get to learn."

Maffei, 33, started working when he was a student at Barnstable High School in order to earn money for college. A budding entrepreneur with an eye for client development, Maffei targeted his high-school teachers as prospects. He and some friends photocopied flyers on a school copier and stuffed them in teachers' mailboxes. Maffei's home economics teacher was his first client, soon followed by his guidance counselor. He borrowed a lawn mower from his father's garage and started cutting grass. He discovered that he had an affinity for the work.

"It was outdoors, easy to get into and it was something that we could all do at a basic level, like cutting grass," he said. "There wasn't a skill set so extraordinary that we couldn't figure it out as 17-year-old kids."

While the still boyish-looking Maffei acknowledges the help he received from others in his initial landscaping venture, he demonstrated as a teen business development instincts that have contributed substantially to his current position. His business skills are largely self-taught.

"Certain things stated to click," Maffei said of his high-school business. "You had to budget a job to cover the cost of materials. You had to make sure you get paid at least as much as you're paying the guys. Today the same principles apply. You make sure you count all the pennies. The important things presented themselves at the right time where they made an impact."

The impact was such that the challenges of business outweighed those of school. Maffei continued to manage his business while attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, but when he landed a major commercial client in his junior year, he decided to pursue his business full-time. He found that he learned from his clients -- and his competitors -- business lessons that motivated him.

"It's easy in the landscape business, especially when you're at the bottom, to see who the big guys are, who they're taking care of, and say, 'I want to be there,'" said Maffei. "First, you have to become aware. I became conscious of what the big landscape companies were doing, what great landscape accounts looked like. Then I had to become competent at doing the things that these great companies did. I had to work on it. There were a lot of hurdles to get over."

Maffei's pride in the quality of his company's services is an evident core value, but he also is candid about learning from mistakes. He recalls losing a client because he did not service them within a time frame acceptable to them.

"I knew that wasn't what great companies did. I let that gnaw at me," said Maffei. "When you make mistakes, you have to hold yourself accountable. You don't quit because you feel so bad. You have to be tough enough to see it through."

Today Maffei's business comprises about two-thirds residential accounts and one-third business accounts, which extend from Plymouth to Provincetown. Annual revenues are about $8.3 million, according to

"A very important ingredient to a successful business is passion," he said. "My passion is in landscape contracting. I want to get better as a landscape contractor so I can go and look for opportunities."

Landscape Management. Maffei sees revenue goals as part of an indicator of success but not an end.